How to Sharpen a Knife

A blunt knife is worse than no knife at all, because you can't even use it in spite of having one! Since a knife is used for cutting, thereby producing fiction, it is bound to lose its sharpness sooner or later. However, there are various knife sharpening tools which will help sharpen a knife. It is a simple and quick process which requires just a little bit of concentration. You can sharpen a knife using any of the knife sharpening techniques mentioned below.

Techniques of Knife Sharpening

There are various options available for sharpening knives. A few common ways on sharpening a knife are discussed below:

Sharpening Knives with a Steel

A honing steel or a sharpening steel is very useful to straighten the edge, as it helps in smoothing and evening out rough, uneven edges. Hold the knife in your right hand and the sharpening steel pointing downwards, in your left hand. Place your hand which is holding the steel, firmly on a cutting board. Hold the knife across the steel, with the part closest to the knife's handle touching the steel. Now, gently incline the knife in such a manner that it's cutting edge is touching the shaft of the steel. The ideal angle for sharpening knives is 22.5 degree, which is to be formed between the knife and sharpening steel. Once you have got the intended angle, keep pulling the knife towards you, by sliding it along the shaft of the sharpening steel. Maintain the angle throughout by using a guide angle, slide for about 10 to 15 times. Turn the knife and repeat the process on the other edge, to make it even and smooth.

Sharpening Knives With a Whetstone

An excellent way to sharpen knives, is to use a whetstone. To start with, you will have to place the whetstone on a flat surface, preferably a counter-top or a cutting board, with its coarse side facing up. Hold the knife tightly with one hand and place it on the stone, point-first, at an angle of 22.5 degrees. Use the other hand for stability, if required. You will need a good perception about angles or an angle guide to help you maintain a consistent angle throughout. Now, gently glide the blade forward and backwards on the stone, subjecting the whole length of the blade to the whetstone. Ensure that you maintain the 22.5 degree angle throughout the process. Do this for about 10 to 15 times on each side of the blade. Once this is done, turn the stone over to its fine grit side, repeat the whole process again for both the blades and get them sharpened.

Sharpening Knives with Leather

A leather strop is used to enhance the sharpness and smoothness of the knife and not to sharpen the knife. For starters, you will have to purchase a leather strop from any leather strop or a knife supply shop. It is important that you sharpen the knife first, using a whetstone or a sharpening tool, before you use a leather strop. Hold the hanging leather strop in one hand with the knife on the other, keeping the blade parallel to the strop, and its edge facing towards you. Touch the knife to the strop and drag it along the strop away from you at a low angle. Turn over the knife and drag it towards you. Repeat this back and forth process for about 10 to 15 times, maintaining a low angle throughout. You will be surprised at the increase in sharpness and smoothness of your blade, the next time you use your knife.

Sharpening Knives With Sandpaper

Sandpaper is easy to find at home and thanks to its roughness can effectively sharpen your knife. Prepare sandpaper blocks by sticking sandpapers of different grains on distinct wooden blocks. Hold the knife in one hand and a sandpaper block in the other. Place the knife's edge on the sandpaper block, away from the body, at a 22.5 degree angle. Now start running the sandpaper block on the entire length of the knife's blade from the handle to tip. Do this 10 to 15 times to sharpen both edges of the blade. For very blunt blades, you should use a heavy grain sandpaper to get best results.

Tips on Sharpening Knives

• Once you have sharpened your knife, make sure that you wash and clean it thoroughly before using. This will help remove any unwanted particles from the blade.
• A knife's edge can get dull easily even if you use it only for a little time everyday. It is better to keep a sharpening steel or sandpaper handy, so that you can regularly sharpen your knife whenever the need arises to.
• When you are sliding your knife across any object, in order to sharpen it, maintain only one direction of stroking from start to finish.
• Storing knives properly does go a long way in keeping its blade in a good condition. You can use knife blocks, knife cases, magnetic bars or knife sleeves to store your knives in a good way.

After learning about sharpening your knives you will surely try it at home. Just a word of caution, be careful. As you will be dealing with sharp edges and sharpening tools, there is a chance of injury. Avoid any such mishap by staying focused while sharpening.